3 Trouble With Malfoy
by Daintress
Summary: Severus looked at her hard. You understand that you aren't sneaking into Gryffindor Tower to hex brooms. Messing with the marauders is different from dealing with Malfoy. Gryffindors don't torture people for invading their privacy. AU since HBP.
1. Chapter 1 Diagon Alley

Chapter 1 ~ Diagon Alley  
  
"Happy Birthday, Muriel!" Papa was grinning from ear to ear as he stepped into Flourish and Blotts to meet her. He held up a small cage, much too small for an owl, with a pretty green cover.  
  
Muriel hurried over to him, still carrying the book she'd been pretending to read. It wasn't often that she let herself be distracted from reading, but the marauders had come in a few minutes before, and she knew better than to let them out of her sight. Who knew what they'd do to her if she wasn't paying attention!  
  
Papa pulled the cover off the cage to reveal a delicate bird that immediately began making small noises. Its plumage was brightest blue. The smile faltered on Mur's face and her stomach flopped unpleasantly.  
  
"I had to look all over for a blue one, I know it's your favorite color."  
  
"Oh Papa, do you know a spell to turn her yellow?" she asked in a small voice, as she put a finger to the cage. The bird nuzzled her finger gently. But her father was already looking past her. He handed her the cage absentmindedly. Malfoy Sr. was also in the shop, and he tended to command attention wherever he went.  
  
Her father hadn't heard her, but the boys behind her certainly had, and they were sniggering wickedly into their fists. She rounded on them in fury, and Remus and Peter cringed. Potter and Black only laughed the louder.  
  
"Black, since you know Mr. Malfoy is going to report back to your mother, you COULD make an effort to look dignified," she said coldly, holding her chin high. This had the effect of shutting him up instantly as he whirled on the spot to see if Malfoy was really present. She smirked, then joined her father.  
  
Although she'd met Mr. Malfoy several times, her father presented her formally and she sat the cage down to shake his hand. "Ah, yes, Lucius has mentioned you. Quite the troublemaker, aren't you?" he asked, his voice unpleasant and oily.  
  
Muriel smiled her best smile. "I'm waiting to behave myself until Lucius is Head Boy. I thought it would be good for the Slytherin reputation." She saw her father suppress a grin, as Mr. Malfoy raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Indeed?" he asked coldly, not expecting an answer. Muriel picked up her bird cage as the man turned his attention back to her father. She smiled prettily at the marauders, who were all gaping at her. It wasn't very often that someone mouthed off to a Malfoy and got away with it. She swept past them without another glance and went to find Severus. He and his mother had been headed to Madam Malkin's. He was growing so fast that the robes she'd had made for him at the beginning of the summer were too short already. Muriel had been given those, since they were still new. She had covered the Slytherin crest with the Ravenclaw one and been satisfied. They were the most appropriate robes she'd had since she'd started school.  
  
"Wow, Mur! Do you know what that is?" Severus asked immediately as his eyes fell on the cage.  
  
"It's my birthday present!" She exclaimed happily.  
  
"I thought you got the broom for your birthday?"  
  
"I did, but I don't think he told Mother about that, so he had to get me something else." They were whispering now, and Madam Malkin, who was hemming his robes, huffed noisily until Muriel stepped back out of her way.  
  
"It's a Cornish Wren," he said seriously, making up for the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"I wonder if Father knew that when he bought it!" she exclaimed. Cornish Wrens were almost as mischievous as Cornish Pixies, although they were very loyal, like owls. Now at least she understood why the little creature was so very blue. "I think he only got it because it was the blue one," Muriel added.  
  
Severus nearly choked trying not to laugh. Muriel had changed the color of every blue thing she owned after last year's unfortunate potion accident.  
  
Madam Malkin finally told him he could step down from the block. "I'll have these ready in an hour, young Mr. Snape," she said primly. He nodded his thanks and paid for the robes before they headed back outside.  
  
"Ice cream?" she asked. He nodded again and they headed off. Halfway there, he took her cage to carry it for her, but the little bird began to squeak pitiably. It seemed she already knew to whom she belonged. Muriel knelt down to look into the cage.  
  
"If you're my bird, you are going to have to be friendly with Severus. He's my best friend!" The bird quieted down, but Muriel could have sworn it was pouting. She laughed.  
  
When they reached Fortunesca's Ice cream shop, they found the marauders already there. Muriel sat with her back to them, which suited Severus fine. It meant he didn't have to. He placed the cage on the ground, causing the little bird to squeak again. He also set his wand down on the table within reach, just in case.  
  
Muriel leant down to the bird again. "If I let you out, will you behave yourself?" she asked it. The bird stopped squeaking and blinked at her innocently. She fell for it.  
  
When their sundaes arrived, the bird was sitting happily on Muriel's shoulder, twittering annoyingly in her ear. "We're going to have to teach her some songs or something," Severus said, noticing his friend's rueful grin. The bird fluffed her feathers indignantly and without any warning swooped down to grab Severus' wand. A moment later, she had dropped it into Sirius' lap, several tables away.  
  
Severus looked as though he might throttle the creature, but Muriel got up and approached the boys. She didn't bother to draw her wand, although she saw that all four of them had theirs on the table. She guessed they'd gotten them out when they'd seen her and Severus take a table.  
  
To the surprise of everyone, she addressed herself to the bird, who was sitting in the middle of their table. "Unacceptable." Then she pulled out her wand and cast a spell on the bird that caused it to jump a little ways off the table. It squawked, and James hissed at her. "The bird has to learn. Otherwise she'll be stealing all sorts of things," she said calmly, with a meaningful glance at their wands.  
  
Muriel smirked as Peter snatched his wand from the table, then looked expectantly at Black, who met her eyes unsmilingly. After a tense moment he held up Severus' wand and she took it from him.  
  
"Thanks," she said quietly. She could feel a flash of anger from James. Sirius had just given up a really good chance to annoy Severus, and that was not something that he could understand. "Rena!" she said sharply. The little bird looked up at her. "That's you. Come here." Muriel knew that this bird was going to be a lot more work than an owl. It would have to be trained, whereas owls were that way when you bought them.  
  
As she walked away, smiling, she heard Black whispering furiously to James, "Next year, mate!" 


	2. Chapter 2 Dark Arts, Pranks and Potions

Chapter 2 ~ Dark Arts, Pranks and Potions  
  
"Stupid age restriction!" Muriel threw herself onto the bench beside Severus at the Slytherin table. Professor Dumbledore had announced the Halloween ball at dinner the night before. Muriel had gotten new dress robes over the summer, which she'd been anxious to try out, until the aging Headmaster had mentioned that the ball was to be only for 4th years and up.  
  
Severus raised an eyebrow, and his lips threatened to twitch up in a smile. He hardly ever smiled at school, at least not in public. It wasn't good for his reputation. "You don't even know how to dance," he said quietly.  
  
"Dancing is not the point!" she huffed, determined to be annoyed. Severus shook his head. He was starting to think that she'd been exposed to her mother's power plays for far too long. He knew that the point was to see and be seen, but he hadn't thought that she took it as seriously as Mrs. Deesia did.  
  
"I don't, Sev, but how will I ever learn to dance if I'm never allowed to go to one? The adults don't let us stay with them and dance at the Christmas parties, either!"  
  
Severus rolled his eyes. She was continually answering his thoughts. He might have thought to do something about it, if he hadn't been so afraid that she'd hear it. Instead he said, "Get Avery to take you. You can go if you have a date in 4th year or higher."  
  
Muriel stuck out her tongue. "If I can't go with you, I'm not going." It was the closest she'd gotten to mentioning their parents' arrangement since they were 9, and Severus chose not to respond. Neither of them wanted a repeat of THAT fight.  
  
They ate in silence until someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey Deesia. Do you want to go with me to the Halloween ball?" Muriel suppressed a groan. It was Avery. He must have overheard them.  
  
She shot Severus an angry look, but he only shrugged. "Thanks anyway, by then I'll be buried under a mound of homework." She tried to keep her voice light, but she could tell he was annoyed. His ears turned a bit pink.  
  
"I don't know how to dance anyway. Maybe I'll get Mother to teach me next summer and we can go to the next one," she added hastily, as she noticed that he was holding his wand. Hers was in her bag under the table.  
  
"Yeah, alright," he said darkly. Then he turned around and asked someone else, who agreed happily. With a last, victorious look at Muriel and Severus, he headed out of the hall.  
  
"Bloody prat," Severus muttered. Muriel allowed herself a small smile. She chose not to remind him that going with Avery had been his idea in the first place.  
  
Professor Warrington had finally learned his lesson, and now allowed his students to choose their own seats. Muriel sat with Marisa, and was VERY grateful. She was taking notes carefully until she felt something fly into her hair and get stuck. She reached back to find a squirming paper airplane, still trying to fly. It didn't have a name on it, so she held it under the desk and opened it, curious. She was pretty sure it wasn't for her, since all the Ravenclaws in the class were seated somewhere in front of her. It read:  
  
Evans, Will you come to watch Quiddich practice tonight?  
  
It wasn't signed, but Muriel was pretty sure whom it was from. A swift glance behind her confirmed it. James Potter looked distinctly red in the face, and beside him, Sirius Black was looking at her with wide eyes. She flashed them her sweetest smile and picked up her quill, pausing to try and match Potter's writing. They were several rows back, and didn't dare do anything about it. So far this term, they'd left her alone. Maybe they were waiting for her to start the fun.  
  
A moment later, she refolded the plane and set it on the desk. It immediately flew off to land in front of Lily.  
  
Muriel watched as the red head at the front of the room looked down at the note and stuffed it in her bag before the Professor turned back from the board, where he'd been writing the characteristics of Hinky Punks. She hadn't read it.  
  
Mur was disappointed, but not undone. It didn't matter if she could SEE Lily's reaction or not, Potter would still have to deal with it. And the note had given Muriel a great idea. Severus had mentioned putting a hurling hex on Potter's broom once, and it would be perfect if he could do it while Lily was watching the practice. They had practiced the hex on a few branches they'd enchanted over the summer, and Severus could cast it perfectly. She grinned, thinking hard about how she could get Severus into the Gryffindor dormitories during dinner.  
  
When class finished, she made a beeline for the door, knowing that the boys would be after her in a heartbeat. She was half right. James went immediately to Lily to try and get the note back. Unfortunately he didn't know any switching spells, and she was a bit reluctant to produce it.  
  
Sirius, however, followed her into the hallway as quickly as he could. She ignored him, walking fast. To her relief, the 6th year Slytherins came out of a corridor to her right just as she passed it. She stepped among them and an older girl, Raquel Parkinson, put a hand on her shoulder. Parkinson had often watched the younger children at her parents' parties, and knew Muriel and Sirius well. Mur shot a last glance over her shoulder to see Sirius scowling at her before she let herself be led downstairs to the Great Hall for dinner.  
  
"What did you do to Sirius, Mur?" the older girl whispered.  
  
"His mate sent someone a note and I caught it. I made a few adjustments and sent it on, that's all." She replied innocently. Raquel winked and grinned as Muriel headed over to Severus.  
  
"Sev," she whispered. "Come on, we've got to go."  
  
Severus stood, raising an eyebrow but not arguing, and followed her back into the corridors. She told him about the note and her plan and he smirked appreciatively. He'd been waiting for a good opportunity to get Potter, and this was going to be perfect.  
  
They came out of the Gryffindor portrait hole, giggling silently as the fat lady harrumphed to herself. They'd caught a first year on his way to dinner, and Severus had managed to convince him that he had a friend in the dormitory who'd sent an owl to invite him up, but had forgotten to give him the password. The boy was obviously a mud blood if he was naïve enough to think that any Gryffindor would invite a Slytherin into their common room.  
  
They hadn't been able to tell which broom belonged to Potter, so they hexed them all. There were only four, and it only took a few minutes each. They arrived separately in the Great Hall to avoid suspicion. Muriel took care to cast a few harmless hexes toward the Hufflepuff table in case anyone asked to see her wand later. She hoped Sev thought to do it too.  
  
"Why do you do that?" Marisa asked irritably as she sat down. Muriel gave her a questioning look. "Hex the Hufflepuffs. Most of them are too nice to fight back, you should leave them alone."  
  
Muriel raised an eyebrow, and concentrated on her friend. "Did someone hex you for no reason today, Marisa?" she asked finally. The girl looked back at her food silently, but Muriel already knew she was right.  
  
"Was it Black?" she asked quietly. Marisa nodded miserably. She'd had a crush on Sirius since the end of first year. Muriel was sure she just felt bad for him because of the boggart incident. Well, that and he was rather good looking, for a scrawny, dark eyed boy.  
  
It occurred to her that Black was probably just angry about Potter's note and took it out on Marisa. Those two boys defended each other like they were brothers. Just like she and Severus did.  
  
Mur shoveled down a few bites of food and stood up. When she arrived behind Sirius, she tapped him on the head with her wand. Across the table, Peter was looking rather pale and James was glaring daggers at her.  
  
"Black, did you hex Marisa today?" she asked calmly.  
  
"Who's Marisa?" Sirius didn't turn around. He crinkled his forehead as the slender wand tapped his head, and hoped she didn't catch his hair on fire. He winked at James and Peter and they both relaxed a little.  
  
"My dorm mate, prat! Did you hex her?"  
  
Sirius was NOT in a position to bargain, but he did it anyway. "Why don't you tell us what you wrote on that note, and then we'll tell you if we cursed your friend."  
  
Muriel could just picture the haughty smile he was wearing. Now she was in a tight situation. She couldn't threaten to pay them back for it, because their hexed brooms were already waiting for them upstairs, and they'd be sure to know it was her. 'Brilliant, Deesia,' she thought dryly.  
  
She was pleasantly surprised when Remus, who'd been sitting silently next to Black, bailed her out.  
  
"Sirius couldn't have hexed Marisa, Mur. She came in for dinner after we did."  
  
Muriel knew this wasn't true, but was glad for the excuse. "Oh," she said in a small voice. "Well, never mind then." She put her wand in her pocket as a gesture of good faith, winked at Remus and walked away, leaving all four marauders wondering why they hadn't noticed how gullible she was before now.  
  
The next morning only Peter sat in the marauders' usual place at breakfast. Muriel felt a little bad, thinking that Remus might have gotten hurt. He hadn't meant to help her out, but she still felt like she owed him one for getting her out of the confrontation with Black.  
  
"Crabbe says they were brought into the hospital ward crying like babies. Pettigrew didn't fly. He just turned his broom over to McGonagal this morning to have her check it." Severus was whispering over his cauldron to Muriel as she sliced frozen bat wings. Potions and Charms were the only classes Ravenclaw shared with Slytherin this year.  
  
"What about Remus?" she asked quietly. He wasn't on the team, so she hadn't expected him to fly.  
  
"Black and James are the only ones who got hurt. Remus was in Herbology this morning." He didn't know why Mur cared what happened to the tall, sandy-blond haired boy. She certainly didn't seem to feel any remorse about Potter or Black. 


	3. Chapter 3 Halloween Excursion

Chapter 3 ~ Halloween  
  
Muriel stood impatiently in the Harmless Hex ward. "I said you could have a seat, Miss Deesia," Madam Kinnison said sternly as she bustled back in from her office.  
  
"It's a little uncomfortable to sit down on a porcupine tail, Madam Kinnison," Mur said wearily. The nurse turned her around by her shoulders, and Muriel could hear her stifling a laugh.  
  
"Yes, well, I suppose it is. Wait here." Muriel was more than just a little annoyed at Black. He'd cast his hex just as she sat down and several quills were poking sharply through her robes. She winced as the nurse came back with a pair of muggle pliers and pulled them out.  
  
It took nearly 20 minutes to find the right spell to get rid of the tail, and Muriel rushed into the Great Hall to grab a bite of dinner. It was practically deserted, as the older students had left to get ready for the Halloween ball. She could hear the marauders laughing at her as she passed, but didn't care. Honestly that was one of the tamer pranks they'd pulled lately. But things were definitely back to normal.  
  
"Sev, let's go exploring," Muriel said, pulling her friend up from his bench. "We'll have the castle to ourselves while everyone is at the ball!"  
  
They waited in the library until the older students came bustling downstairs in their best robes. When Madam Pince arrived, dressed in robes of pale yellow, to close the library, they made their way up a staircase that neither could remember climbing before. They knew where the Gryffindor common room was already. Maybe they'd find the Hufflepuffs' tonight. They were on the 4th floor when a glare of light washed over and passed them, and they cast their gaze to the other end of the stairwell.  
  
The light passed over them again, and Severus hissed, "The mirror just opened and closed, but no one came out of it!"  
  
Muriel's eyes widened. "Maybe it was the person with the invisibility cloak who caught me on the stairs first year!" she said quickly. "You go that way!" They split up, each approaching the mirror from a different direction at a full run, arms stretched wide.  
  
Severus was already examining the mirror by the time Muriel got there. Neither had caught anyone. "Maybe they're inside," he said, pulling out his wand to open it. But at that moment they heard voices. They shared a worried glance and took off down the stairs.  
  
As they reached the second floor, Mrs. Norris appeared on the landing below them. They took one look at the young cat and ran, each a different direction. Filch was never far behind his cat.  
  
Severus headed left, casting about for an empty classroom, or broom closet, ANYTHING! What he found was a girl's lavatory, an impressive one, actually. When he realized that Mur wasn't with him, he paused in the doorway. But she was no where to be seen. He closed the door and cast a locking charm on it. It was then that he heard a low moaning from behind him and turned to see a young ghost floating wistfully over the toilets. He groaned. Malfoy had warned him about Moaning Myrtle.  
  
Muriel ran as fast as she could to the right, but somehow the stupid cat kept up with her. She recognized the Minerology classroom up ahead, and threw herself into it, slamming the door behind her. She turned, putting her back against it, but her relief quickly disappeared when her eyes fell on the mess in front of her.  
  
Rocks of every type were flying through the air. Some were brittle and shattered as they collided with others. Fine dust of all colors was floating from overhead, and she tried to cover her eyes. Suddenly, she heard someone cackle wickedly and all the rocks fell to the floor.  
  
"Peeves!" she exclaimed. Peeves would tell on her in a heartbeat. Sure enough as she turned to wrench open the door, she heard his exuberant voice.  
  
"Ickle Ravenclaw out of bed in the Minerology room!!!" But it didn't matter. The noise he had already been making was enough. When she opened the door, she found herself face to face with Filch, Mrs. Norris purring contentedly at his feet. 


	4. Chapter 4 Quiddich and Sharing

Chapter 4 ~ Quiddich and Sharing  
  
"And just how long will that take?"  
  
Muriel looked up from the trophy she was polishing. She recognized Black's voice out in the hallway. Filch's idea of detention was particularly boring, so she listened.  
  
"Mr. Black, there maybe more wrong with those brooms than a hurling hex. We're going to have to strip them down, it could take three weeks." Professor McGonagal sounded both weary and annoyed, though whether at Sirius, or whoever had hexed his broom, Muriel didn't know.  
  
She heard someone sputtering. When he could finally form complete words, he whined, "But the first game is this Saturday!"  
  
"You and Potter will just have to ride school brooms, Mr. Black. Now unless you want to delay my work further, I suggest you get back to Gryffindor tower."  
  
Muriel heard Professor McGonagal's boots click back down the corridor, and the hiss that indicated whispered cursing. She wished that she hadn't waited so long to hex their brooms, she hadn't meant for them to be without them for the game. With their seeker and a beater on school brooms, Gryffindor was sure to lose, even if they were playing Ravenclaw. She grimaced, remembering how depressed her house team had looked after their last practice. This was definitely not their year. Still, she didn't want the Gryffindors to lose because of her prank. It wasn't right.  
  
She smiled to herself. She hadn't felt bad about injuring the boys, since they took every opportunity to injure her, and Madam Pomfrey could fix just about anything. But sabotaging a Quiddich match was beneath her.  
  
When the trophies were clean, she trudged back to Ravenclaw tower, and threw herself into a chair in a corner of the common room beside Marisa, who was still awake. She put aside her book. "Ick, you smell like silver polish!"  
  
Muriel blinked. She probably did, she'd been smelling the stuff for four hours, so she couldn't tell. "Marisa, do you have a broom?"  
  
"No. My mother thinks they're too dangerous, she floos everywhere. And father doesn't really believe any of this yet. He's still in denial. When I asked him over the summer, he bought me a push broom."  
  
Muriel laughed in spite of herself, then got up. "I've got to find Severus."  
  
"It's nearly midnight, Filch will catch you for sure and you'll be polishing trophies NEXT Wednesday, too." Marisa could never understand why Muriel didn't seem to mind her weekly detentions. She was certain that HER mother would have a fit, but Muriel never got any howlers from home or anything.  
  
Mur smiled inwardly. She never got howlers because Papa never mentioned it to Mother when Dumbledore sent them owls about her behavior.  
  
"Nah, he'll come up with something better next time," Mur said slyly, turning away. A few 6th years were sitting by the fire, talking quietly. She pulled out her wand and whispered, "Legilimens," picturing Severus as she'd seen him at dinner.  
  
"Sev, meet?" "Okay." "Where?" "Myrtle."  
  
She opened her eyes. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was on the second floor. Severus had shown it to her after the Potions lesson this morning, in case she ever needed to hide again. Apparently Peeves and Myrtle didn't get along, so he never went in there.  
  
The older students looked up as she exited the portrait hole, but none of them said anything. Muriel's class work earned them enough points that they didn't give her a hard time about much.  
  
By Saturday morning, Severus was positively sulking. He came to breakfast early, hoping that Muriel hadn't really done what he'd agreed to let her do. He couldn't believe he'd let her talk him into it. She smiled at him as he sat down across from her at the Ravenclaw table. "Well?" he asked tiredly.  
  
"We'll just have to wait and see." She cast a furtive glance at the doors, but didn't see any sign of the Gryffindor team.  
  
"What makes you think they'll give them back?" He was staring openly at the door. Maybe Potter would find out whose broom it was and refuse to use it. But Muriel would have been more careful than that.  
  
"Look at me, git!" she hissed. "If you're staring at them when they come in, they might figure it out!" Then she softened her voice. "They're Gryffindors. They'll give them back." Severus' and Muriel's parents had given each of them a Shooting Star over the summer for their birthdays. Muriel had been particularly happy with hers, since her mother had opposed the idea. It was rare that Papa put his foot down about anything, but he'd bought her the broom in spite of her mother's objections.  
  
The Gryffindor team came in together only a few moments after the food appeared. Muriel watched out of the corner of her eye, and hoped Severus had the sense to do the same. Potter and Black were each holding a sleek black broom, and wearing identical puzzled expressions. She smirked at her plate, then looked up with the most disinterested expression she could muster.  
  
For just an instant, Sirius stared at her. She forced herself to narrow her eyes and look away. It wouldn't do to have him figure it out now. Instead, she turned to Severus.  
  
"I think I'd better root for my own team this year, Sev," she said quietly. She had spent the last two years trying to convince herself that she was still a Slytherin, no matter what the Sorting hat said. She'd even rooted for the Slytherin Quiddich team. But this year would be different. This year, she had to start rooting for the Ravenclaw team, since next year she intended to be on it.  
  
Severus only nodded. He had known that would happen. It didn't matter. He'd sit with Wilkes and Rosier, the only two 1st year boys in Slytherin. They were a good deal better than Crabbe and Avery at least.  
  
Mur sat in the Ravenclaw section with Marisa. It only took James Potter 28 minutes to catch the snitch. The Ravenclaws never had a chance.  
  
Muriel waited in her seat, high above the pitch, until she'd counted seven Gryffindor robes leaving the locker room. Then she made her way down, hoping that Potter and Black had followed her instructions. The crowd washed past her as she waited for the pitch to clear.  
  
She crept warily into the locker room. The brooms were leaning against the very first bench. Beside them was a piece of parchment, addressed in Sirius' informal, but neat handwriting to: Friends. She put the folded parchment in her pocket and hastily covered the brooms with her robes. Severus met her by the lake, and she wordlessly handed him back his broom. They weren't worried about getting caught now. The Gryffindors would certainly be celebrating their victory, and would likely not be seen again until lunch on Sunday. 


	5. Chapter 5 A Butterbeer Between Friends

Chapter 5 ~ A Butter Beer Between Friends  
  
Charms class with Professor Flitwick was one of Muriel's favorite classes, not least because she'd known how to do most of the charms since before she came to Hogwarts. Today, however, they were casting Cheering Charms, and that was not in her repertoire. Severus had made a point to sit with her, and she was trying desperately to get the charm right, just so she could force him to smile for once. But it wasn't working. In fact, he looked distinctly disgruntled.  
  
"Oh Bugger!" she exclaimed finally, thrusting her hands into her robe pockets in frustration. That earned her at least a smirk, but she hardly noticed as her hand hit a crinkled bit of parchment in her pocket. She pulled it out.  
  
"What's that?" he asked quietly.  
  
"I'd forgotten, it was with our brooms when I got them from the locker room," she whispered, casting a look around the room. "I just threw these robes on the bed and never went back to read it."  
  
"That was three weeks ago, Mur," he said, casting a perfect cheering charm at Professor Flitwick's back as he walked past them. Muriel chuckled. So did Professor Flitwick.  
  
"I found this robe under the bed yesterday when I ran out. I'm awful at cleaning spells, you know that."  
  
Severus rolled his eyes and told her for the twentieth time to give her dirty robes to him and he'd take care of them. She smiled her thanks.  
  
"So open it already. What does the Prat Pack have to say?"  
  
Muriel laughed again and unfolded the parchment.  
  
Friends,  
The next Hogsmeade weekend the Butter Beers are on us. We'll be at the  
Three Broomsticks at 2:00.  
~Sirius and James  
  
"Well, that's friendly enough," Mur said. "Hogsmeade is this Saturday, Sev. Can you think up something good to do to them by then?" She'd never been lucky enough to have Potter and Black tell her where they'd be and when before, and she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity for a great prank.  
  
It was raining hard the following Saturday when they set out for Hogsmeade, but Muriel and Severus walked anyway. Everyone else was taking the coaches, and since they were alone, Muriel took her friend's hand. He hadn't let her do that very often at school, continually afraid that his house mates would see them. Slytherins were very good at teasing. As if he didn't already hear about it enough from Malfoy!  
  
They stopped at Honeyduke's first, filling their pockets with chocolate frogs. Severus dragged her into the Quiddich supply store as well. His broomstick servicing kit was out of polish.  
  
It was a little after 1:30 when they made their way to the Three Broomsticks. They stopped inside the door and Muriel used her wand to dry their robes. Her hair was drenched as well, but she just pushed it back out of her face. They had no trouble finding their table, as there was only one that wasn't taken. The rest of the place was filled to capacity with Slytherins and a few Hufflepuffs that Severus had managed to intimidate into helping. Kyle, Marisa, and the rest of Muriel's dorm mates were also taking up an entire table. The bar was full.  
  
As they had planned, the only two chairs remaining in the place were at their table. Hardly anyone looked up when the boys finally came in. Sirius and James took one look around the place and their smiles fell away. None of these people could possibly have leant them brooms. Maybe whoever had done it had decided not to come. They steeled themselves to do what they'd come to do, just in case.  
  
As they made their way to the bar, Muriel and Severus each tapped the arms of one of the empty chairs with their wands. It was so noisy that no one heard their muttering, or saw the sparks fly from their wand tips.  
  
Sirius loudly asked the bartender for a round of butter beers for everyone, on him. The Hufflepuffs cheered. The Slytherins did not. Two Gryffindors in a room full of Slytherins was not a good idea, not even for a prank.  
  
The bartender brought drinks around to everyone as James and Sirius turned from the bar to look for a table. Naturally their eyes were drawn to the only empty chairs in the place. James groaned audibly.  
  
Looking up, Muriel caught Sirius' eye and pulled a chair out, smirking.  
  
"Is this an admission of guilt, Deesia?" he asked quietly, his hand on the back of the chair. "Did you lend us your brooms because you hexed ours?"  
  
"Have a seat, Black, I'll tell you all about it," she replied smoothly. To her delight, he shrugged and sat down, then looked expectantly at James.  
  
James was still standing a few feet away, his eyes on the back of Severus' head. There was no way he was sitting with that greasy git, even if he HAD leant them a broom. He shook his head, his hair falling over his eyes.  
  
Unfortunately the spell took hold before they could convince James to sit down. He was able to see for himself that he'd made the right decision when the arms of Sirius' chair started to move. They looked like tree roots, and they entwined around his wrists, finding their way up the sleeves of his robes.  
  
As soon as they touched skin, it began. Muriel had turned the chair into a very proactive variety of poison ivy. James, for all his wisdom at not sitting down, proved his vulnerability when he ran to help his friend.  
  
No sooner had he grasped the vines to pull them from Sirius' arms than he too began to itch fiercely.  
  
The entire place was laughing now, even the Hufflepuffs. Muriel was laughing so hard that she had to wipe the tears from her eyes as she gasped for air. Finally, when she thought both boys were sufficiently humiliated, she waved her wand in the direction of the chair, which reverted immediately to its original state.  
  
She wasn't prepared for what happened next, however. Sirius launched himself from the chair, grasping her wrists with his itchy hands and thrusting them all the way up her arms, under her robes.  
  
She swore loudly and knocked over her chair in her effort to get away from him. Severus, not quite as crazy as James, backed away, shocked. He knew better than to try and help her, or one of the Gryffindors would surely give him poison ivy too. Besides, it was too late, she had it now.  
  
The other Slytherins were laughing even more wickedly than before at the back-fired joke, as Muriel and Sirius stood, arms locked, looking furiously at one another. Unfortunately neither one could hold that stance for long, because the itchiness began to spread.  
  
"I think it's time for our first joint trip to the Black and Deesia Ward, Mur," Sirius whispered, before letting her go. The place was so loud that nobody else heard him. She narrowed her eyes, but was soon distracted by the crazy itchiness in her arms. Swearing again under her breath, she stomped back out into the rain, not caring whether Sirius and James found their way back to the castle or not, and scratching furiously. 


	6. Chapter 6 The Black and Deesia Ward

Chapter 6 ~ The Black and Deesia Ward  
  
"Madam Kinnison!" The door to the Harmless Hex ward burst open and the young nurse looked up to see Muriel Deesia running into the ward, shrugging off her robes as though they were full of ants. She put down the book she'd been studying and went to see what was the matter.  
  
"Poison Ivy!" The young girl exclaimed with a pained expression. Madam Kinnison didn't want to know where Deesia could possibly have found poison ivy to get into.  
  
"Just a moment," she said kindly, reaching for a cauldron. It only took an hour to brew the potion that would get rid of the itchy boils that covered the girl's arms. Then she could go back to studying for her healer's exams.  
  
As she went into her cupboard to gather the ingredients, she heard a small voice behind her say, "You'd better make enough for three." She rolled her eyes and got out some more calamine leaves. She placed the cauldron on the floor and began to brew the potion.  
  
"There she is!" James and Sirius came through the door just as Madam Kinnison added the last ingredient. "We were trying to be NICE!" James exclaimed, glaring at Muriel and scratching angrily at his wrists.  
  
"Hi Valerie," Sirius said brightly as he fiercely scratched the back of his hand. He'd spent so much time in the hospital ward that he was on a first name basis with Valerie Kinnison and Poppy Pomfrey. He was also becoming a hopeless flirt. Muriel rolled her eyes at the goofy grin he wore.  
  
"I should have guessed it would be you two!" She smiled fondly at the boys as she stirred the cauldron. "This needs to boil for an hour. You can sit here on the floor, just don't touch anything!" She didn't want to have to change the bed sheets because of poison ivy.  
  
Muriel scowled as the boys sat down beside her and the cauldron. Madam Kinnison went back to her office, instructing Muriel to stir the cauldron every 10 minutes. "I'll be back in an hour," she said, glad to get back to her studying.  
  
Muriel pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes. An itchy hour in the presence of the two most egotistical prats the school had to offer. She put a hand into her pocket and positioned her wand so that it pointed at them. No sense in taking chances.  
  
The boys soon began whispering to one another, and Muriel was starting to get annoyed, since they were obviously discussing her. She couldn't make out their words over the bubbling of the potion, but she could hear the thoughts behind them clearly.  
  
She cast a silencing charm on them both and then smirked as they turned toward her, startled. For an instant neither of them was scratching. "You should know better than to talk about me as if I'm not here. It's very rude."  
  
James responded with a very rude hand gesture, while Sirius chuckled silently. She thought with satisfaction that at least they couldn't cast any spell on her so long as the charm lasted.  
  
It soon grew dull, however, to sit with two silent people and a potion that wouldn't be ready for another half an hour. She looked up at them, absentmindedly scratching her arms again. James was still glaring at her. She pointed at the small heap in the center of the floor that was her robes. "Madam Kinnison says our clothes are probably contaminated. She told me before you came in that we'll have to leave them here with her."  
  
Sirius looked up sharply. Then he pointed to his throat and Muriel obliged by performing the counter charm. He walked to the other side of the room, and it seemed to Muriel that he was whispering again.  
  
As Muriel stirred the potion for the last time, Remus and Peter came into the ward, tossing a stack of clothes down on the nearest bed. They looked amused. "Would've been a lot more fun to make you walk back in hospital clothes, but you're our mates, so we decided to help you out," Remus said, smiling, but keeping his distance. Sirius had long since used his wand to give James back his voice, but James hadn't spoken since.  
  
"Mighty kind of you, Moony," he said. Remus' eyes widened and he nodded toward Muriel, who carefully pretended not to have heard, looking instead at the clothes they'd thrown on the bed. One set of robes had a Ravenclaw crest on it.  
  
"Very kind indeed," she said, catching first Remus' then Sirius' eye. Remus had obviously gone up to Ravenclaw tower and asked one of her dorm mates for her clothes. Sirius must have asked him to do it. He couldn't have known that she'd need them any other way.  
  
When Madam Kinnison had administered the potion, she ushered Muriel into her office to change. By the time she came out, the marauders had gone and Severus was waiting for her. She felt extremely awkward walking back up to her dormitory with only her robes to cover her, and held them shut tight with both hands. Severus kept casting amused glances at her, sensing her discomfort. She was, however, glad that her dorm mates hadn't handed her underwear to a marauder. No telling where that would have gone!  
  
"It would have been perfect if you hadn't let him up, Mur," Severus said finally. "I think you're going soft on me."  
  
Normally, Muriel would have proven she wasn't going soft by hexing him where he stood. But feeling as though both her hands were required to hold her robe closed made her unwilling to draw her wand. Instead she hurried her steps, and said goodnight at the portrait hole, although it was still 2 hours before dinner. She had no intention of coming back downstairs tonight, however, since the entirety of Slytherin house had just had a jolly laugh at her expense.  
  
Although it hadn't meant anything to her at the time, she could now clearly recall the sneering faces of Avery and the rest as they had looked in the Three Broomsticks. One minute they stood behind her, helping her with the prank, and the next they laughed at her misfortune. Mother called those people her friends, but Muriel saw only enemies with hidden agendas. She wondered why it hadn't occurred to her before.  
  
She suddenly understood why Papa had never approved of Mother's friends, and thought back on the letter she'd had from Aunt Rosa last Christmas. If Mother was really going to take the Dark Mark, as her aunt implied, then life was going to get very dangerous at home. As if she didn't have enough to worry about with Severus' father being a Death Eater. 


	7. Chapter 7 Christmas Party Blues

Chapter 7 ~ Christmas Party Blues  
  
Muriel was surprised one morning when she arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast and found that the Christmas trees had already been set up. The time went by so fast that she had hardly noticed as the term came to a close. She sighed and plopped down at the table, opening the book her father had smuggled to her, Zany Hexes for the Harried Hexer. She and Severus were running out of new things to do to the marauders, who'd kept up a steady barrage of curses throughout the term.  
  
Muriel looked up from her book as Severus threw an envelope on the table in front of her, scowling. "Rosier's place," he griped. "Their house is so small that we'll have to stay outside to keep out of trouble." The annual Christmas party. Muriel wondered briefly if her father would go this year. He'd come home from the party last year in a very bad humor.  
  
Mur frowned at the untidy scrawl of Mr. Snape's handwriting, but suddenly smiled again. "Want the good news?"  
  
Severus raised an eyebrow and softened his expression somewhat. Trust Mur to come up with good news.  
  
"I overheard Lucius telling off Rosier in the library last week. Made him cry. I bet the Malfoys aren't invited." Severus and Muriel were both aware that Rosier was spoiled rotten. Although his family wasn't wealthy, his parents coddled him. While their parents had been teaching them the Dark Arts, Rosier had gotten good at exploding snap and gob stones. It would be just like them to not invite the Malfoys because of something like that.  
  
"Oh, but who will fix your head this time, pumpkin girl?" Severus whispered, his mood obviously much improved, though he didn't smile. Muriel pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, but he only turned to leave.  
  
He was quickly reminded that it was a mistake to turn his back when she wore that expression. Orange sparks exploded forcefully from his robes with a deafening BANG. He looked down to find that gaudy, sparkling pumpkins were now decorating his black school robes. Laughter erupted from everywhere, and he spun sharply, his wand already in his hand.  
  
Unfortunately while he'd been looking at his robes, several people had stepped between him and the Ravenclaw table. By the time he got around them, Muriel was long gone.  
  
The Rosiers' house was crammed with people. Severus and Muriel stood in the back yard, looking morosely at the odd, Asian-looking lamps that were hanging from the trees. It was much too cold to be outside, but the Rosiers had cleared the snow with a melting charm and lit a sizable fire.  
  
Mur pulled her fleece cloak tightly around her shoulders. As she had predicted, the Malfoys hadn't been invited, but just about everyone else was there. The Averys, Wilkes, Macnairs, Crabbes, Goyles, and Blacks were all in attendance. And, as Severus had been sure, everyone who was not of age was standing near them around the fire, except Black, who had the sense to keep his distance.  
  
Muriel turned around to warm the back of her legs. Her mother had insisted that she wear this skirt, not realizing that she would be outside all evening. "This is awful," she whispered. Severus only nodded. Bored, she took out her wand. A moment later, a snowball whizzed through the air to hit Avery's exposed neck. Soon they were all covered in snow, and even Avery laughed as one of his snowballs caught Muriel's shoulder. She spun around and toppled over, unbalanced. He headed toward her. A moment later, another snowball caught him full in the face and he looked around to find a grinning Sirius Black, who already had another snowball in his hand.  
  
As Avery wiped his face angrily, Crabbe stumbled backwards to avoid a barrage of snowballs charmed by Jolina. He bumped Avery, who fell to the ground beside Muriel. Taking advantage of the confusion, Avery rolled toward her and put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Now this is better than dancing any day," he said quietly, his face only inches from hers.  
  
He was way too close for her, and she threw off his hand and stood up angrily. "SOD OFF, AVERY!" Several people turned around at this pronouncement, but Avery ignored them.  
  
"Oh, you know you want it," he responded wickedly. He reached for her again as a huge snowball hit the back of his head with a sickening thud. It had obviously been charmed into ice. At the same moment, Severus grabbed Muriel's wrist and pulled her behind him.  
  
Avery was bent over, a hand gingerly exploring the lump that was forming on his head. Muriel looked at him with cold, pitiless eyes. "You probably have a concussion. I daresay you'd better go tell your parents." Her voice was hard.  
  
Avery didn't look up. The edges of his vision were fading to black. A moment later, he'd toppled over into the snow. Severus levitated him back into the house. No one else wanted to face Mr. and Mrs. Avery, and Severus had insisted that Muriel stay outside. She watched him walk away before turning to find the snowball. She picked it up in both hands. It was as big as a cantaloupe. Avery might just as well have been hit by an anvil. She levitated it over the fire before the adults could find it. No one said a word.  
  
As the water dripped into the fire, hissing and spitting, Muriel glanced at each of the boys around the fire, trying to determine who'd charmed that ball of ice. But everyone's thoughts were jumbled. None of them seemed to be feeling particularly guilty. She knew it couldn't have been Severus, since he'd been behind her.  
  
"I don't know which of you did it, but thanks," she said quietly. Outside the circle of light cast by the fire, Sirius nodded in answer, though no one saw him.  
  
When Mr. and Mrs. Avery stormed out the back door, demanding explanations, no one had any to give. Everyone looked guiltily at the fire, avoiding the adults' eyes. The party broke up shortly after that, and Severus and Muriel were glad to get home.  
  
Mrs. Deesia gave Muriel a stern talking to, convinced that she had harmed the Avery boy in some way. Mr. Snape patted his son on the back for the first time in years, believing exactly the same thing. 


	8. Chapter 8 Training Rena

Chapter 8 ~ Training Rena  
  
"I'm sorry, Marisa! She just has a mind of her own!" Muriel had climbed halfway up her bed post, and was reaching tremulously for Rena, whose blue wings were flapping furiously as she tried to stay aloft just a little longer. In her mouth she held a sparkly earring that matched the one Marisa already had in her left ear.  
  
"Rena, get down here!" Mur fell to the bed with a muffled thump, and rolled to her night stand, grabbing her wand. "Immobulus!" she shouted. The bird, held up by physics rather than magic, fell into her outstretched hand when her wings stopped beating. She pried the pink earring from her beak and set her gently in her cage. "It will be at least a week before I let you out of there again," she scolded as Marisa laughed.  
  
"You told her that the day before yesterday. Honestly, you ought to set HER loose on the marauders." Marisa had been relieved to come back to school this year to find that things had gone back to normal between Muriel and the Gryffindor boys. Marisa had been awake when her friend came back into the room after they'd tricked her with that horrible Latin curse.  
  
As much as she had come to like Muriel and respect her magical ability, she had been legitimately afraid for those boys that night. She'd managed to talk her into not forcing her way into their dormitory and killing them in their sleep, but she felt it had been a very near thing.  
  
"I can't," Mur responded to interrupt her friend's thoughts. This was one time when it was decidedly uncomfortable to hear someone else think. Had Marisa really thought she would murder the marauders?  
  
"They've already seen her in Diagon Alley. They'd know she was mine. Of course, if she wasn't seen - " Muriel sounded thoughtful, and brushed her hair absentmindedly. She decided that it was time to ask Professor Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures professor.  
  
Marisa rolled her eyes. Now she'd done it. The last thing you wanted to do was get Mur thinking about pranks. She ALWAYS came up with something.  
  
In the next two weeks, Muriel's bird could be seen taking small packages to and from the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables during every meal. The younger students were dazzled by her pretty color, and the older students were amazed that anyone had managed to train a Cornish Wren.  
  
Lucius Malfoy caught the bird at dinner one evening as it tried to deliver yet another package to Severus, and had a nasty surprise. The bird had a serrated beak. It fit together so nicely that you couldn't tell, until it bit you. He screamed like a banshee, and then looked around sheepishly. An instant later, the traditional Malfoy expression was on his face again, and he calmly asked which of his cronies was going to offer to heal his finger, which was bleeding all over the table.  
  
Severus tried not to roll his eyes as half the Slytherin table pulled out their wands. It was Narcissa Black who healed him, asking him if it hurt very much. Severus just shook his head and took the small package from the bird, which had limped over to him as soon as it was released.  
  
He left the package on the table, it was only filled with sand anyway, and took the bird over to Mur. "Rena needs another trip to Professor Kettleburn," he said quietly, opening his cupped hands to show her the mournful bird. She only nodded, since she'd heard Malfoy's shriek.  
  
"Good show, Rena," she said, taking the bird from Severus and feeding her one of the little blue seeds that Kettleburn had recommended. The bird perked up a bit, though it's twittering still sounded pathetic. "And you embarrassed Malfoy, you get another one for that," she added, putting another seed in the bird's mouth.  
  
"You always get an extra one if you embarrass Malfoy," she whispered. Severus couldn't help but smile, though he noticed immediately that it startled the girls Muriel sat with. He snapped his mask back into place. It wouldn't do to show anyone that he wasn't overly fond of Lucius. The boy knew where he slept, after all.  
  
Madam Pince was frowning at them, some three days later, as Rena twittered happily on Severus' shoulder. He was trying desperately to be nice to the annoying critter, since it had just gotten better, but he was losing patience. Muriel fought back her laughter as she finished her star chart for Astronomy.  
  
"Rena, look," she whispered. The bird stopped twittering and came obediently to the table to look at the constellation Mur was pointing to. Muriel had gone to Professor Kettleburn right after Christmas in desperation. There wasn't much literature on Cornish Wrens, but the battered old animal handler was a wealth of knowledge. She knew now why her father had chosen this type of bird. It was partially telepathic, just like her. It hadn't listened to her during first term because she'd only been using words to train it. Now that she was 'thinking at' it, the training was going very well.  
  
"This is the dog star, Sirius," she whispered. She pictured Sirius Black in her head and sent the image to the bird, careful to include his Gryffindor robes. "Bring me his star chart," she whispered. Severus sniggered, earning them another disapproving look from the librarian.  
  
The little bird waited patiently on a picture frame high above the portrait of the fat lady. Soon some older students spoke the password and she flew in silently behind them. She landed on the mantle over the crackling fire. Four boys sat in front of it. One was doing homework, one was doodling, and the other two were playing exploding snap. Rena waited.  
  
James Potter set aside the scrap of paper he'd been doodling on and looked at Sirius and Peter, not noticing that the scrap seemed to disappear from the table. "Reckon we ought to get some of this finished tonight?" he asked, gesturing toward the piles of books they'd each brought down. Remus didn't look up. His star chart had been finished an hour ago and he was half way through with his History of Magic essay.  
  
Peter agreed immediately and left the game, much to Sirius' annoyance. James reached for his pile of books while Peter took out his star chart and spread it out on the table beside Remus.  
  
As Sirius cleaned up the game, none of the boys noticed little Rena pulling with all her might on a sheet of paper in the only untouched pile of books. She got it loose just in time and got around to the back of the chair before Sirius picked up the stack and rifled through it, looking for his own star chart. Naturally he couldn't find it anywhere. He grumbled a bit before digging for his History of Magic book.  
  
An hour later Muriel bent over the chart, copying her work onto it in haste as Rena pecked happily at a large pile of blue seeds. Mur made only one mistake. When it was finished, she sent the little bird back up, hoping she could manage to return the paper without being seen. Then she took a look at the other paper the bird brought down.  
  
J.P Loves L.E. was doodled across it in elaborate lettering. Muriel handed it to Severus, who looked as though his birthday had come early before pocketing it for later use.  
  
The Gryffindors had Astronomy the next evening with the Slytherins, so Muriel wasn't there to see what happened. Severus told her at breakfast the next day how the teacher had gone on about Sirius' work being nearly perfect only to reveal to the entire class that the only thing he'd labeled incorrectly on his chart was the star he was named for. Even the other Ravenclaws had a good laugh. As annoying as Muriel's bird had been over the last few months, they all thought she was turning out to be pretty handy.  
  
But a week later, Muriel was starting to worry. Perhaps the bird had a conscience. She swiveled around in her chair while Professor Tantry turned back to the board. There was Rena, sitting on Sirius' shoulder quietly. Sirius grinned at her, and she scowled before turning back around.  
  
'Rena, come here!' she thought with all her strength. But behind her she heard Sirius whispering, and the bird didn't come. Loyalty was supposed to be a main characteristic of Cornish Wrens! That bird was only supposed to like Muriel's friends, NOT the people she spent her time thinking up pranks for.  
  
Professor Tantry had written several more things on the board, and Muriel's enchanted quill scratched on the parchment, copying the notes down for her. She had turned around in her seat again to look at Rena when there was a knock on the classroom door.  
  
A moment later Avery stuck his head in. He smirked at Muriel for a moment before addressing Professor Tantry. "Excuse me, sir, but Professor Chesser sent me to get you. One of her third year students got himself hexed during class, and she can't determine how to fix it." Professor Chesser was the minerology professor, and not very good with spells.  
  
Muriel knew immediately what had happened. Avery had hexed Severus because he was upset about the Christmas party. He obviously thought that Severus had charmed that snowball. Avery had a way of walking past their classrooms and messing things up, just like he had with the blue potion in their second year.  
  
'Perhaps she should send you for Madam Pomfrey instead." Tantry said, testily.  
  
Avery looked back at Muriel. "Well, she thinks it was a dark art curse, and she doesn't want to ask Madam Pomfrey, because the nurse will probably have to involve the Headmaster." His self-satisfied smirk was more than Muriel could take.  
  
Muriel didn't realize that she had raised her wand until Marisa reached over and pushed her arm down to the table with a hiss. "Mur, don't!" She couldn't help it, she was so angry she could have turned him into a bat.  
  
"Well then, class is dismissed until I can sort this out," Professor Tantry said wearily before following Avery quickly downstairs to the Minerology classroom.  
  
"He hexed Severus," Mur said quietly to her friend.  
  
"You don't know that!"  
  
"I DO know it, I just can't prove it." Muriel couldn't explain all this to Marisa right now. She really needed to find out how Severus was. She turned to the back of the room. "It's time to go, Rena, come here."  
  
The bird looked up at Sirius from his desk, then at Muriel. When that boy had popped his head into the room, both had felt a great deal of anger. She twittered and flew back to Muriel. In her little brain, she had decided that Avery was a much better target than Sirius. 


	9. Chapter 9 Hogsmeade

Chapter 9 ~ Hogsmeade  
  
Severus and Muriel walked to Hogsmeade, relieved that the weather had finally warmed. Rena was a tropical bird and couldn't be outside in winter. Now, however, she was flying great circles around them, twittering happily.  
  
She was the only one, however. "He ought to have known I couldn't have charmed that snowball," Severus said angrily. "I was right in front of him, he would have seen me!"  
  
"It wouldn't have mattered. He hexed you because he's mad at me," Muriel explained for the fourteenth time. She'd spent a week visiting Severus in the hospital ward, trying not to tell him who had hexed him, only to give in. Then she'd spent two months trying to convince him that there wasn't much they could do about it. Her word wasn't proof enough to get Avery into trouble.  
  
It didn't help that Avery was stuck like glue to Malfoy these days. She guessed that his embarrassment at the Christmas party had led him to seek out an ally who hadn't been there. Malfoy was becoming more dangerous every year, and now even Muriel, in spite of all her years of dueling practice, didn't relish the idea of upsetting him.  
  
Severus was looking at her strangely. "What?" she asked.  
  
"Did you hear what happened to him last Saturday?"  
  
"No, what?" He held open the door to Honeydukes before answering and she walked past him.  
  
"Someone scattered all his underwear around the common room. The rest of the house doesn't want the school to hear about it, though." Severus whispered nervously, looking around the shop.  
  
Muriel laughed quietly. "I imagine they don't! But it must have been someone in your house, right?"  
  
"That's just it, Malfoy has asked everyone. He even wanted me to see if you knew anything about it."  
  
Muriel put down the box of candy she'd been holding with a thud and turned to him. He knew at once that he shouldn't have told her that.  
  
"What are you, Malfoy's errand boy now?" she asked incredulously. She'd come to terms with the fact that Slytherin house was made up of two-faced gits late last term, but somehow Severus just hadn't seemed to fall into that category.  
  
"Of course not! I told him that if you'd done it, you would have told me already. I'm only telling you about it now because I thought you'd think it was funny." Muriel felt a great deal of panic coming from her friend. Something wasn't right. But she couldn't tell what he was thinking, except that it matched what he'd just said.  
  
"Right." Muriel said darkly. "And it is," she added a moment later in a warmer voice. "In fact, I almost wish I HAD done it."  
  
She smiled then, and Severus decided it was safe to continue. "And that's not all. He's been losing his homework several times a week, and he keeps finding his wand in the library. You and I both know he hardly ever goes in there."  
  
Muriel listened to all this with growing apprehension. When Severus turned toward another display of sweets, she reached up a hand and caught Rena, who had been sitting, quietly for once, on her shoulder. It only took a moment of concentration before she knew. Her little bird had done it all. She would have laughed, but the thought suddenly came to her that she shouldn't tell Severus. What if he really DID report back to Malfoy? He certainly was acting strangely.  
  
"Hey, Sev? I just realized that I left Rena's seeds up in my room. I think I'll take a carriage back up to the school and get them. Why don't you meet me up there when you're done?"  
  
He nodded and she headed quickly out the door. A moment later the other students in the shop were startled when a glass vial shattered against the door. Poly juice potion sludged down to pool on the threshold and a very angry-looking Severus swore loudly before heading to a less obtrusive location to meet Malfoy and tell him that it hadn't been Deesia.  
  
Muriel made it back to the school in record time. She had a funny suspicion that she had not been talking with her best friend. She made her way to the Slytherin dormitory and pounded angrily on the portrait. Rosier opened it for her and she raced up to Severus' dormitory. She threw back the bed curtains, which shrieked angrily.  
  
She charmed them to be silent and sat down beside her friend, understanding. Avery had tried to trick her, and it would have worked, too. If she'd done it she would certainly have told him. She couldn't understand how she'd failed to recognize the differences between their thoughts.  
  
"Ennervate," she said, pointing her wand at Severus. His eyes popped open.  
  
The first thing he said was, "Where's Avery?" She smiled. He was fine.  
  
"I left him in Hogsmeade. Severus, I need to know that you are really you before we can talk." She didn't want to have gotten past Avery's poly juice potion trick only to find Malfoy doing the same thing now.  
  
He nodded resignedly, and she pulled out her wand. "Legilimens," she whispered. She sifted through his memories, recognizing several that Malfoy couldn't have known, nor anyone else for that matter. She ended the spell, satisfied that this was, in fact, her friend. If she had still been unsure, his overwhelming annoyance with her when he opened his eyes would certainly have convinced her.  
  
"I hate that!"  
  
"I know," she said smugly. It was a great spell, when they used it to talk from a distance, but it was really invasive when she used it for real mind- reading.  
  
It took him a minute to realize where he was, but once he did, he pulled his covers up a little higher. "What are you doing in here?" he asked self- consciously.  
  
Muriel laughed. After all, they had been swimming in the pond behind their houses lots of times, and Severus without a shirt wasn't a new sight. "Avery tried to trick me into telling him that I was responsible for scattering his underwear all over the common room last week, stealing his wand and burning his homework. He must have stunned you and made some poly juice potion to take your place for today's Hogsmeade trip." She explained calmly.  
  
"Did you do all those things?" he asked.  
  
"No, but I know who did, and we can have a really good laugh about it if you'll just get dressed so we can get out of here." She rifled through his trunk and threw him some robes. He pulled his bed curtains shut briefly and emerged a moment later, feeling more himself.  
  
Rena flew from Mur's shoulder to his when he appeared and twittered affectionately in his ear. He swatted at her playfully, so she took off and landed instead on his head, which he ducked.  
  
The bird followed them all the way to the library, landing on the table as they sat down. "So, who did it?" he whispered.  
  
Muriel pointed to Rena, who was blinking innocently up at him. "She must have sensed how angry I was when Avery hexed you earlier this year. She's been tormenting him ever since!"  
  
On the other side of the library, Wilkes pulled his head back around the bookcase that separated him from their table. He wondered how long it would be before Malfoy and Avery got back so he could tell them. 


	10. Chapter 10 Lost

Chapter 10 ~ Lost  
  
They decided it was best to pretend that they'd fallen for Avery's trick. Muriel even asked him Monday morning at breakfast why he hadn't gone to Hogsmeade. He had only sneered at her angrily.  
  
She and Severus chose a desk far from the door for their potions lesson. Something was wrong. Somehow Avery knew, and they didn't want him throwing anything nasty into their potion again.  
  
Muriel left Rena in the dormitory on days when they had potions. Sometimes the fumes were strong and she didn't want to make the poor bird sick.  
  
It wasn't until she got to Divination that she got an indication that something was far more wrong than she'd thought. "I didn't see Rena in the room when I went back for my books after lunch," Marisa whispered to her.  
  
Mur had told her about the bird's new found interest in annoying Avery. "She's probably breaking into the Slytherin common room again," Mur said, not worried. Rena had gotten away with so much this year that it never occurred to her that the bird might get caught.  
  
But when a week had passed with no sign of the little creature, Muriel found herself wondering if she had managed to get into trouble. Sometimes, after she'd been trained, she would disappear for a day or two and come back with one of Malfoy's dark arts toys, or a Gryffindor prefect badge, hoping for a pile of blue treats. But she'd never been gone so long before.  
  
Mur sat morosely in Divination, waiting for the professor to show up and ignoring the sympathetic looks Marisa was giving her. She'd asked everyone if they'd seen the bird, but no one had.  
  
The marauders came in and Muriel instinctively put her wand on the desk. She didn't even have to think about it anymore. She was surprised, however, when James cleared his throat and Sirius walked over to stand in front of her table. Muriel watched with amusement as Marisa got all misty eyed. She kicked her under the table.  
  
"What?" Marisa exclaimed. Sirius thought she meant him and looked at her strangely for a moment before turning to Muriel.  
  
"Mur? We found out something about your bird." Muriel narrowed her eyes. She had taken great care to search the marauders thoughts and make sure they hadn't taken her. Sirius honestly liked Rena, so she'd been sure that he hadn't done it. But then, she'd mistaken Avery for Severus too, so she knew her abilities weren't infallible.  
  
"What did you find out?" she asked quietly.  
  
"We heard Avery and Malfoy talking. They have her." Apparently the marauders had learned their lesson about what was fair game to tease about and what wasn't. There was no hint of humor in Sirius' expression. He didn't tell her that he and Remus had gotten detention for trying to break into the Slytherin dormitory last night and get Rena back, but she heard him thinking about it and smiled wanly.  
  
"Thanks. Sev and I will take care of it." She replied as the professor arrived to begin class.  
  
Sirius nodded shortly and went back to his friends, the hand in his pocket releasing his wand. You never knew when you walked up to that girl whether she'd let you talk or just hex you. He wondered briefly why she hadn't just cursed him. She was obviously in a bad enough mood because of her bird.  
  
For Muriel's part, she was connecting several events in her mind. Black had caught her on the stairs under an invisibility cloak first year. Now he had gotten detention trying to get her bird back for her. She thought back to the Christmas party. She'd concentrated hard on everyone who stood around the fire after Severus had taken Avery inside. None of them had done it. But she remembered now that Sirius hadn't been standing with them near the fire. He had disappeared after the snowball fight. Maybe that had been him as well. When she realized that she was still staring at Sirius, she snapped her eyes down to her book and flipped it open as James sniggered.  
  
She caught Severus' attention at dinner and beckoned to them, unwilling to talk at the Slytherin table. Marisa moved over as he sat down. She never quite knew what to do around Severus and generally preferred to stay out of their conversations. "I think Avery has Rena," she whispered.  
  
"But I searched his room two days ago."  
  
"Did you search Malfoy's?" Severus looked at her in alarm. Of course he hadn't searched Malfoy's room. Was she crazy? "Then that's where she is." Mur said glumly. It meant that at least three Slytherin 6th years, the ones that roomed with Malfoy, had lied to her when she asked them about Rena.  
  
Severus waited patiently while Muriel thought. She would come up with something, he was sure. After a few long moments, she looked back up at him. "Meet me in Myrtle's bathroom at 11."  
  
He nodded and went back to his house table. He was an excellent actor, and when he caught Avery giving him a very satisfied smirk, he took care to look puzzled. "What are you looking at?" he asked in an annoyed tone. He watched as Malfoy nudged Avery and they both turned away. Severus wondered how Muriel had known.  
  
At 11, he was pacing Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. By 11:15 he had mortally (oh, well, not really) offended Myrtle, and was pacing the bathroom with his drenched robes clinging to his legs. He was getting very annoyed.  
  
He'd finally flopped down on the only dry span of floor to wait when the bathroom door opened and closed. No one came in. 'Has she really gotten that good at the spell?' he thought.  
  
"Yes, I have," came the answer a moment before Muriel appeared. "Ten minutes! It's my new record."  
  
"You need me to open the portrait hole." He didn't ask. It was obvious what she planned to do.  
  
"Twice," she confirmed. "I've got to be able to get back out. I can't exactly hide in your room, I'm sure your dorm mates are as anxious to impress the next head boy as the rest of the Slytherins."  
  
Severus looked at her hard. "You understand that you aren't sneaking into Gryffindor Tower to hex brooms. Messing with the marauders is different from dealing with Malfoy. Gryffindors don't torture people for invading their privacy." She almost smiled at the intensity in his voice. He was worried about her. But she understood the risks as well as he did.  
  
"Let's go," she said shortly. "And think up a reason why you're not in there now. Stay in the common room where everyone can see you and then when I tap you, offer to get everyone butter beers from the kitchen."  
  
Severus stayed quiet as they made their way to the dungeons. As usual, she had thought out all the excuses he'd need.  
  
He greeted his house mates coldly, as he always did, and threw himself into a chair by the fire which Rosier had purposely vacated a moment before. Then he waited, making gruff conversation and trying not to watch the staircase to the boys' dormitory.  
  
Muriel ran soundlessly up to the door marked "6th years." She took out her wand and cast several unlocking charms on the door, then whispered, "Finite incantem," just in case the doorknob had been enchanted to harm her. She and Marisa had done that once when Vanessa had made fun of Marisa for being skinny. It had been both useful and amusing.  
  
But if she got caught today, it would be neither. Finally she opened the door. Only Minchew was inside. He was sitting on his bed, reading something that looked an awful lot like that Mad Muggle comic book that had just come out. Muriel stored the information away for later use and crept to the other side of the room.  
  
She found Rena, her tiny feet chained to nails driven into Malfoy's dresser, and her wings bound to her body with spell-o-tape. The poor bird was lying down sideways and Muriel could see that she'd been through a lot. They hadn't just caught her. They'd hurt her.  
  
She pried open the chains and tenderly took her feet out, though she left her wings bound. She wouldn't be flying for a while anyway. Muriel took the little bird behind Malfoy's bed hangings. She would have to recast the invisibility spell to include the bird. She hoped Minchew wouldn't notice.  
  
She dropped the spell and cast it again, then walked quickly for the door. Minchew looked up. For a moment she was afraid that the spell hadn't worked, but then she realized that he was looking right through her, at Malfoy's dresser.  
  
Minchew swore vehemently. Where had the damn bird gone? It couldn't have flown away! He scrambled out of bed and started looking on the floor, under the dresser and under the beds.  
  
Muriel pulled his door closed behind her as she left and tapped Severus quickly on the shoulder. They needed to get out of there before Minchew sent up the alarm.  
  
"Well, I think I'll go down to the kitchens and see about getting us some butter beer," Severus began in a disinterested voice. He stood, but never got to ask who would like one, as Minchew was racing down the stairs.  
  
"Malfoy? Where's Malfoy?" None of the younger students knew, but some 5th years in the corner sniggered and pointed toward the girl's dormitory. "Well go get him," Minchew snapped at one of the girls. Her eyes widened a bit and she hurried up the stairs. Muriel didn't even want to know how he had managed to get into the girl's dormitory.  
  
It didn't matter. There was no way Severus could leave now without arousing suspicion, and she was starting to feel the spell draining her. She set off for his dormitory before Malfoy could arrive. Thankfully, both his dorm mates appeared to be asleep. She cast a silencing charm on his bed hangings before pulling them closed around her and dropping the spell. Then she thought hard. How was she going to get out of this?  
  
She heard footsteps running up the stairs, and the boys in the room sat up groggily. Severus stuck his head in the door. "Either of you see a bird flying around?" he asked sharply. "Malfoy's lost one." They shook their heads, and one of them began to roll over to go back to sleep. "Don't you think it would be wise to help us look?" Severus asked pointedly.  
  
The boys groaned, but knew better than to appear as if they didn't care about whatever Malfoy cared about. They got up and followed him upstairs. A moment later, Severus stuck his head back in the door. "Take my broom and go out the window," he whispered before pulling the door closed again.  
  
Muriel smirked into the darkness as she flew away toward her own house's tower. Why hadn't she thought of that? 


	11. Chapter 11 Loss

Chapter 11 ~ Loss  
  
Muriel left a note at Professor Kettleburn's place at the Head Table before breakfast the next morning. It was imperative that no one but her dorm mates knew she had the bird back, but Rena was sick. Muriel couldn't figure out what they'd done to her. The professor seemed to understand, and she didn't hear from him until her Care of Magical Creatures class the next day.  
  
"Miss Deesia! That is NOT the correct way to handle a bow truckle. Five points from Ravenclaw for your ineptitude and you will stay after class today!"  
  
"Yes Professor Kettleburn," she answered humbly. This caused the marauders to look up. It was rare for Deesia to say anything humbly. Sirius tried to catch her eye. He highly doubted that she'd been handling her bow truckle wrong and he could think of only one reason why she might need to speak with the professor. He hoped that she had been able to get Rena back.  
  
Muriel took care not to look toward the Gryffindors at all. She was getting good at determining which thoughts in this chorus around her belonged to Sirius, however, and she appreciated his worry over Rena.  
  
When she was sure the rest of the class was out of hearing, she pulled the dejected little bird out of the pocket of her robes. Rena didn't twitter at all, she only blinked stupidly at the sudden light. Mur had done her best to take the spell-o-tape off without hurting her, and there was no indication that she'd been injured. She just wasn't acting like herself anymore.  
  
"She doesn't even like her treats anymore, professor," Mur said sadly, trying to feed Rena a little blue seed. The bird only turned her head.  
  
Professor Kettleburn had never seen anything like it. Although he knew what the birds ate and how they behaved, he had never actually dealt with one before, and had no idea what was wrong with her now. "Perhaps you would let me keep her in my quarters? If I can observe her for a while I might be able to find a way to help her."  
  
Muriel nodded. "But professor, it really is very important that no one knows I got her back." She told him what she'd gone through, and that 'several others' might get into trouble if word got out. She agreed to bring him the cage and seeds after dinner as they walked back to the castle together.  
  
But when she got to her room she saw a horrible sight. Marisa appeared beside her and gasped. Their things were scattered over the room. And in the cage beside the window was the badly deformed body of a little blue bird. Muriel took it out of the cage, not understanding. It looked just like the bird she'd given to Professor Kettleburn, and she KNEW he would never have let anything happen to her.  
  
Before she could help herself she sat down on the floor with the little bird in her lap and cried. Marisa took another look around the room. "I'll get Severus," she whispered, and she ran for the Slytherin dormitories.  
  
She nearly ran into Jolina Avery and her friends on the stairs. Marisa had never dealt with the Slytherins at all, because of her mother's warning. But she'd seen Mur do it dozens of times.  
  
She took the girl's arm, hoping to talk her into fetching Severus from the common room. But Jolina wrenched her arm back out of her hand. "Don't touch me, you filthy mud blood!" she spat angrily.  
  
Marisa realized immediately that much of the respect they had for Muriel was because she was pure blooded. She was about to resort to the OTHER reason people respected her dorm mate when a cold voice behind her brought her around.  
  
"It wouldn't be wise, so close to the Slytherin dungeons, for a mud blood like yourself to go hexing Miss Avery." It was Severus, and though his voice was taunting, his face was worried. He knew Marisa wouldn't be down here for no reason.  
  
Jolina was looking at him appreciatively but he kept his disgust from registering on his face. "Run along," he said to Marisa. But she stood, uncertain as to whether he would follow or not. "And tell Mur that next time she sends someone to find me she ought to choose with a little more taste."  
  
Now she was really infuriated. She turned without another word and huffed back up the stairs as the Slytherin girls laughed wickedly. Severus followed her at a distance, not sure what could have gone wrong.  
  
Marisa could hear him behind her, but she didn't turn. When she reached the portrait hole she said the password clearly and went inside without a backward glance. Severus shook his head. There was no sense in trying to make the girl understand. If he had appeared to approve of her presence there, it would have complicated things to no end.  
  
He respectfully waited a moment, but it must have been a moment too long, because Marisa stuck her head out again. "Are you coming or not?" she asked irritably.  
  
He smiled: a real smile that was the closest to an apology as he could come, and followed her into the Ravenclaw common room. Marisa thought briefly that he really wasn't so bad looking when he smiled like that. Maybe that's how Muriel saw him.  
  
Mur had come down to the common room, and was surrounded by her house mates. They made room for Severus to sit beside her and she showed him the broken little bird, crying silently.  
  
It was a tough moment for Severus. Did he act like a cold Slytherin git and maintain his reputation, or did he comfort his best friend. Silently he put an arm around her and took the lifeless body out of her hands, placing it gently on his robe. The Ravenclaws drifted away, then, except for Marisa, who sat staring at the bird with her head in her hands.  
  
A few minutes later, Muriel had composed herself, and snatched Rena back from him. "Incendio," she whispered. Several of her housemates gasped, and Kyle even shouted in alarm as her hand appeared to catch fire. But when the flames went out her hand was unmarked except by a pile of ashes, which she threw unceremoniously in the fireplace. Marisa was looking at her as though she was mad, but Severus understood. She was done mourning. It was time to move on. He sat with her until dinner time and even let her hold his hand all the way down to the Great Hall.  
  
They parted ways silently and Muriel went directly to the head table. Severus had ventured a guess that Malfoy had transfigured some other creature into a Cornish Wren to trick them, and she wanted Professor Kettleburn to find out and change it back. For all they knew, it could have been one of his house mates. Malfoy wasn't above such things.  
  
"I'll kill them one day," Muriel whispered to Marisa as she sat down. Marisa felt a chill run down her spine. She said it so matter-of-factly that there could be no suspicion that it was an idle threat. "When I'm an auror and they're death eaters, I'll really enjoy killing them."  
  
Marisa ate in silence. She had just been reminded again of the vast difference between her and her friend. It was better not to speak of it.  
  
Avery had no proof that Mur and Severus had taken the bird, but that didn't stop him from keeping an extra close eye on them. But Muriel spent only a few days in sullen silence before she came into the great hall for breakfast, the day before their first exams, and threw a fillibuster firework onto the table in front of the marauders. She was determined that it would appear that everything was back to normal so that the Slytherins would have no reason to suspect Severus' involvement. That would truly be dangerous.  
  
The marauders answered in kind, and for the last few days before summer, everyone but the 5th and 7th year students thought life was pretty good again.  
  
FIN A/N: Year 4 for Severus and Muriel has already been written and will be posted as a new story! Look for it under my user ID: 468209, along with all my other fics! Each one is numbered in the title, so if you picked up in the middle, you should be able to go back and catch the beginning. 


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